http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/ Welcome to our blog. We are professors of management (and NASCAR fans) who teach an honors course on the business of NASCAR at Virginia Commonwealth University. Our blog will appear weekly and we invite comments. Dr. Jon Ackley and Dr. Michael Pitts en Copyright 2008 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:31:36 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss When I think of diversity in NASCAR, three primary topics come to mind: age, race, and gender (in that order). Since the fundamental idea behind the business of NASCAR is to make money, team owners are looking to recruit younger... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/10/diversity_in_nascar.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/10/diversity_in_nascar.html Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:31:36 -0500 Can the business of NASCAR be compared to that of Wal-Mart? Perhaps I am going to the extreme here, but the two enterprises have a great deal in common. I am a business student and confess that I do not... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/nascar_and_walmart.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/nascar_and_walmart.html NASCAR Leadership/Rulemaking Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:10:38 -0500 The statement that NASCAR does not glean international attention may no longer be true. About ten years ago NASCAR tried exhibition races at Twin Ring Motegei and Suzuka Japan with little success. Fast forward ten years and NASCAR now has... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/red_bull_gives_nacar_wings.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/red_bull_gives_nacar_wings.html Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:28:25 -0500 Luck! The word itself is not that impressive, but in NASCAR it can make or break a driver. Luck is defined by dictionary.com as a series of events which affect one’s interest or happiness regarded as occurring by chance. It... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/luck_drives_again.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/luck_drives_again.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:12:39 -0500 While surfing around the internet for something to write about for this blog entry, I stumbled across an article entitled: “NASCAR needs to look into alternate fuels.” Being a fan of NASCAR and the loud engines that go along with... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/nascar_needs_to_look_into_alte.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/nascar_needs_to_look_into_alte.html General Business Health Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:29:16 -0500 Now that the chase has “officially” begun, fans like me can’t take their eyes off of the battle between top drivers such as Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch (and quietly Jimmie Johnson). The competitive battle, all year long, between... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/melted_mms_1.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/melted_mms_1.html Drivers Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:24:04 -0500 Yeah. I’ll say it…I like Kyle Busch. So if you want to throw something at me, then throw M&M’s (like them too!) So while playoff season for both the top spot and the 35th spot (money even back there) has... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/melted_mms.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/melted_mms.html Drivers Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:38:16 -0500 As some of you who read our blog know, my colleague Mike Pitts and I have been teaching a five-week Honors module on the Business of NASCAR for the past five years. This semester, we started a full-semester class for... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/new_twist_to_our_blog.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/09/new_twist_to_our_blog.html General Business Health Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:22:03 -0500 I’ve been struck by some events recently that speak to the concept of “loyalty”. Now, loyalty is defined in part as “faithfulness to commitment” and in this political year, various candidates’ loyalty to party, principle, or country will be repeatedly... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/loyalty.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/loyalty.html Drivers Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:11:21 -0500 Subject: Jeopardy Television Show Answer: "Kurt Busch" Question: "Whatever Happened To?" And that's my view from here Mike... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/froma_future_time.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/froma_future_time.html Drivers Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:58:34 -0500 I’ve been on vacation for the past few weeks and thus haven’t been submitting any blog entries, but now it’s back to work. And, with the Race for the Chase nearing its end, everyone’s attention is on who will make... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/the_f_word_raises_its_headagai.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/the_f_word_raises_its_headagai.html NASCAR Leadership/Rulemaking Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:25:21 -0500 I remember as a youngster that we had to come up with games to play (especially during summer vacation when it rained). One of those was taking a deck of cards and building a “house of cards”. Of course,... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/house_of_cards.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/08/house_of_cards.html General Business Health Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:47:24 -0500 Change can be hard for folks. We have so much that has been ingrained into our psyche that any issue, concept, or new item that challenges our core beliefs poses a threat -- either real or imagined. Either way they... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/07/dealing_with_change_in_a_globa.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/07/dealing_with_change_in_a_globa.html Toyota Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:53:40 -0500 Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star takes an overview of NASCAR's diversity issues. Includes comment from Jon Ackley.... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/07/nascar_and_diversity.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/07/nascar_and_diversity.html Diversity Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:17:00 -0500 About a week ago I was reading something — blog, newspaper, online — and there was a “letter to the editor” type of item. The author was criticizing NASCAR for wasting gas, given the current economic situation, energy consumption, and... http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/07/the_wasting_of_gas_by_nascar.html http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/2008/07/the_wasting_of_gas_by_nascar.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:58:01 -0500